


a place for us

by sanguinedawns



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, M/M, Mentions of Sex, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 04:34:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18242471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanguinedawns/pseuds/sanguinedawns
Summary: Naruto hadn’t even noticed how their lives had started entwining so deeply. A year or so ago this was just a house, similar to the apartment he’d lived in all his life, but now—with every carefully curated item and random piece of clutter—it’s home. No place has allowed him to call it that until this very moment.





	a place for us

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! This is my baby fanfic full of self-indulgent tropes and whatnot. It's a snapshot of Naruto falling in love / being in love / realizing love / finally being allowed love. It's not in depth because it's just disjointed scenes and yes it's purposely vague in places and etc. But I love taka and I love team 7 and I wish for them to be a family. There were some deleted scenes like I am a firm believer of Suigetsu being a board games expert and Jugo helping Naruto with his garden. But alas, those scenes didn't make it. I might write them later on, but for now, here is what you have. (also, as all things this is for kylie.)
> 
> some points to note:  
> 1\. uchiha compound is semi-demolished minus the one house where taka lives.  
> 2\. naruto & sasuke live together outside the village in a house they built w the help of taka, team 7, and yamato.  
> 3\. i forgot to write sai and i APOLOGIZE. but deleted scenes might have him :)  
> 4\. Sasuke doesn't work for Konoha but he's similar to his Shinden self where he travel as he pleases and helps people and isn't bound by the shinobi law.  
> 5\. there isn't any actual sex lol sorry i don't think i'm capable of writing detailed sex scenes! but they makeout! so yay for that! idk if explicit is an appropriate warning for that but eh.  
> 6\. sns are in love. 
> 
>  
> 
> i have a playlist too. [here.](https://open.spotify.com/user/arwa_12/playlist/2nEr8AqujKLaxk1gFNtvmI?si=H0v5xoGkRQ-OmyqAgyBgVg)
> 
> also, this isn’t beta’d. i am an impatient being who barely re-reads much less edits their work mostly cause i’m writing for fun and blah blah. anyway, sorry for the grammar errors :/

**ii.**

 

“ _Tadaima*_ ,” Naruto enters the house to absolute silence. The only sound present is the slight pitter-patter of the rain outside. He brushes off his cloak, sopping wet now, and hangs it on the hook at the entrance and goes to tug off his sandals. They’d just mopped the house on Sunday and he doesn’t want his muddy footprints all across the clean wooden floors. Zipping down his jacket he walks thru the corridor towards the kitchen that opens to the living room.

 

The floor plan is not very traditional, but it works best for them. The kitchen counter rounds out into the opening of their living room space which is sparsely furnished—one couch and a floor cushion facing the tv box and DVD player; they’re both set on a small table that has a petite closet under the shelf where the DVD player sits, it’s jammed with random scrolls and books.

 

He leaves his mission scroll on the compact dining table that barely fits three people. Swiftly opening one of the cabinets he takes out a glass and pushes it under the sink, filling it with water for himself. He guzzles down the liquid and sets the empty glass into the basin and moves towards the living room where he sees the window cracked open.

 

“Shit,” he exclaims, scampering to close it. There is a small pool of water under the windowsill dribbling to the floor. Shaking his head, he jams the window shut as he goes to say, “Sa—”

 

The words get caught in his throat when he finds the other boy sprawled across the carpet with his head buried on the floor cushion. A tiny black cat is curled up next to his chest, his good hand nestled in her fur.

 

Naruto can’t help but sigh into a smile, murmuring softly, “idiot.” He treads over to him, careful not to make any noise, and crouches down near the other boy’s face. Sasuke’s bangs are in his face, messily hanging over his eyes. Naruto reaches out and touches the strands tentatively at first, but then moves them to the side, rubbing his thumb on Sasuke’s forehead. Warmth creeps into his fingers and spreads all the way down to his chest and soon enough he finds himself arching down and placing a tender kiss to the boy’s forehead.

 

“Stupid, could’ve caught a cold,” he mumbles, now sitting on his bum and periodically stroking back Sasuke’s hair as he takes notes in the mission scroll.

 

The cat rustles awake, peering at him with his amber eyes, and nudges her head into Naruto’s wrist.

 

“Spoiled,” he mutters under his breath, but gives in and let's go of Sasuke’s hair to card his fingers thru the furry animal. Looking back at Sasuke who’s still very much deep in sleep, he says, “both of you.”

 

**vii.**

They’re sitting in the living room after a long day of activities. Naruto’s just returned from a month-long mission and he feels his weary bones turning to jelly as he leans back, shoulders digging into the edge of the sofa. Sasuke’s sitting in-between his legs, perusing thru the brochures Sakura had dropped by apparently when she’d visited last week. The one he’s looking at right now is of an Onsen in Land of Waves. Looking over his shoulder Naruto can see how lavish the place is, in-door pools that are heated, saunas, the springs themselves and extravagant accommodation.

 

Sasuke reads the details to himself while Naruto busies himself with the other boy’s hair. It’s longer than it was when he’d left the village the first time, his bangs growing out. He twists his fingers through the tresses of dark hair and can’t help but marvel at how soft it is. Naruto pulls back the hair behind Sasuke’s ears—letting them peek out—and starts twisting them in a half-braid.

 

The back of Sasuke’s head is always sporting those offending spikes so it’s harder to tame them into a ponytail, loose ends always falling out, but a half-braid is doable. He parts the hair to the side from the front and pulls it to the back. Sakura taught him how to do a regular one, promising him they’ll eventually move on to learn a French one. Recalling how it’s done he starts crisscrossing the strands.

 

There is a slight cobalt blue shade to the deep raven of Sasuke’s hair which always shows when it’s pulled back like this. You’d think they’re highlights, but it’s naturally that color and Naruto loves it. He’s snapping the hair tie around the tail of the braid when he hears Sasuke say, “we should take a vacation.”

 

Naruto snorts, shifting a little closer once he’s secured the braid with a tie, and cards his fingers through the hair loose at the bottom to undo the knots from the shower Sasuke took earlier after his sparring session with Suigetsu.

 

“Isn’t that what common folks take? I’m not sure I know any shinobi who go on vacation.”

 

“Hrm,” Sasuke hums, “I mean, you’re the shinobi. Not me.”

 

Naruto notices the thin strands of hair that have fallen loose at his sideburns, they look cute. Like baby hair.

 

“So, what you’re saying is _you_ deserve the vacation?” he parts the hair falling at the nape of Sasuke’s neck and notices the faintly protruding bone. Ducking his head, he places a feather-light kiss on it. Sasuke’s smell wafts thru his nose, an earthy scent mixed with the apple scented soap Naruto had bought. It’s his favorite smell he’s come to realize, the way it grounds him to the present, to _now_. _They’re here; together._

 

“I saved the world, didn’t I?” he flips another page, the glossy picture coming in Naruto’s line of vision as he moves his lips down Sasuke’s neck to his shoulder. He’s not even kissing him anymore, just gliding his lips across the velvety expanse of skin exposed due to the loose neckline of Sasuke’s shirt. He always dresses in terribly worn in t-shirts around the house, some from years ago that Naruto never got rid of, others his own he’s been using since even before his growth spurt. Kind of ridiculous, but Naruto’s so endeared by the image he never points it out.

 

Tentatively Naruto licks where he remembers the curse-mark used to be, mentally willing away all the rotten memories that come along with it and finds warmth meeting the tip of his tongue. Sasuke’s always so warm, his skin burning under the tips of Naruto’s fingers, urging him to chase after the heat.

 

Naruto goads him, “you mean how I saved the world?”

 

“You wish,” Sasuke scoffs, “Just as you _wish_ you were the strongest shinobi in Konoha.”

 

Naruto loops an arm around Sasuke’s waist and pinches his stomach, “ _I am_.”

 

Sasuke elbows him, his bony arm digging into his chest, and says with an exasperated tone, “Are not.”

 

“Am too.”

 

They keep up the tête-à-tête with Naruto’s fingers finding purchase in Sasuke’s sides, pinching, tickling as the other boy digs his elbow into Naruto’s chest, his abdomen—at one point even his neck. Roughhousing is routine to them, finding familiarity in using their fists, their strength over words, but over time the blows have softened, the touches precise but with an underlying tenderness. It’s never out of malice or hurt, but the need to grip onto each other’s shoulder, pressing fingers into each other’s skin is—it’s ubiquitous. 

 

Sasuke shuffles around to meet Naruto’s eyes, legs pulled up to press against his chest as Naruto stretches his own and crosses his ankles around Sasuke’s back. Caging him in as he brings his arms to loop around Sasuke’s neck; hands clasping around the nape.

 

“If I wanted, I could beat your ass right now and have you begging on your knees for mercy,” Sasuke declares, voice absent of any bite. He’s simply making a statement.

 

Grinning salaciously Naruto responds, “Oh, _baby_ , you don’t need to fight me to have me on my knees for you. I’ll willingly do that any day, just say the word.”

 

Not expecting that Sasuke’s eyes widen in mortification, a trickle of red spreading across his cheeks, “You’re shameless.”

 

Leaning in, their lips a hair-breadth apart, Naruto’s whispers, “Would you like me to demonstrate?”

 

Sasuke places a hand on Naruto’s face, and gently pushes him away, “ _Usuratonkachi_.” The flush on his cheeks has deepened as he rolls his eyes, strands of his bangs falling over his forehead – the braid clearly coming out loose and not holding them in. Three years ago, Naruto recalls staring at the same face, void of emotions, eyes empty aside from the lingering hurt and sadness. Naruto remembers feeling the same hurt drop like stones in his chest, heavy and coarse.

 

Thing is tragedies happen and you’re meant to grow from them, learn some lesson for life and all its misery, but the scar that they leave stay. And when you’re young, impressionable, barely out of the cradle of your mother’s arms you fall on your face and get hurt deeply. And when you don’t have the safety blanket, to begin with then you fight for scraps to make one, surround yourself with people who you hope to find you worthy enough to let you borrow some of their warmth, some of their love.

 

Naruto knows Sasuke and him are two sides of the same coin, to have and it being taken away, to not even know what was taken in the first place. At the end of the day, it’s all just sentimentalities.

 

Naruto mumbles, “you’re right.”

 

Sasuke arches a brow at him, embarrassment forgotten, “about me being stronger?”

 

Naruto reaches for Sasuke’s good hand and flips over his palm to fit his own against it, whispering as if it’s their secret, “you have the secret to defeat me.”

 

Time will pass that much Naruto knows, but the one thing that’s set-in-stone is what he feels right now and no matter what the future ought to hold – _no one_ , and he emphasizes, _no one_ can take this away from him. Sliding a hand down Sasuke’s shoulder to his torso, Naruto knocks his fingers against his chest, right where his heart beats, “you see you hold it right here.”

 

Tilting his head, he gives Sasuke a lopsided grin, “all of me.”

 

Sasuke lets out a laugh, Naruto’s blood singing to the sound, “ _ah_.” Not a flicker of shame, of remorse, as he continues, “My _one_ and _only_.”

 

The words knocked the breath right out of Naruto, the blow matching a punch to the gut. Sasuke says things with such certainty that it aches, the unfailing love the words carry echo against the bare walls of their small home. It’s his turn to feel the heat rising in his cheeks, the way his ears burn at the declaration, like that’s it, it’s unarguable that Naruto is destined to be Sasuke’s. How they’re entwined at the core with an outside force pushing them to each other, binding them to eternity, and Sasuke _believes_ in the inevitability of it.

 

Naruto’s face must have given his shock because Sasuke comes closer, pressing his lips to other, once, twice—until Naruto gathers his words, “Your only weakness.”

 

Sasuke corrects him, “My greatest strength.”

**iii.**

Sometimes Sasuke leaves. For a day, a week, sometimes even a month. It’s never been longer than that. Naruto gets it how it can be suffocating. Ever since his return Sasuke gave up his duty as a Konoha shinobi. Too jaded by the cruelties the village had inflicted upon him that he didn’t feel like going back to the system—instead choosing to work on his own, traveling on his own. Initially, Naruto had tried to convince him to come out with him, to mingle with his friends, to reintroduce him into his past life but he’s come to realize too much had changed in their time apart. Besides Sasuke _does_ have friends. They, also, live in the compound in one of the houses that still stands.

 

At first glance, Naruto had been closed off to them, couldn’t help but succumb to a bitterness that clawed at his chest at the thought that there were bonds made even when Sasuke had tried to forsake his older ones. But then Karin had been over once and tossed a scroll regarding Uzushio, and Suigetsu had found old board games at the Uchiha house, and Jūgo’s innate ability to wash over calm over the rest automatically made Naruto settle in. Fitting in amongst the band of misfits was easier than he’d ever thought.

 

They were all orphans, all alone, but they had each other. It made sense.

 

So, when the month of Sasuke’s absence stretches into two he can’t help but finding himself seated in taka’s living room. The kitchen next door had a kettle on the stove, the whistling keeping him distracted as Karin ran around the house searching for a scroll in particular. Jūgo has Haru in his lap, fingers threading thru her fur, as he watches the red-head pounce around the house. It paints a pretty perfect picture of their odd family.

 

Finally, she settles next to them on the floor, Suigetsu opening a packet of chips and tossing its contents into a large bowl as she spreads the scroll. Naruto can tell it’s a map, but unlike regular ones this one has a glittering thread outlining all the major regions.

 

 “What’s this?” he asks out loud, fidgeting a little to trace the bluish thread.

 

Karin adjusts her glasses peering up at him, “it’s kind of a chakra map. If you can sense someone’s chakra it can help you find the person.”

 

Blinking Naruto says, “Like a radar?”

 

“Exactly.”

 

There is a steady hum under his veins, a flow of chakra—not his own or Kurama’s—that he can pick apart. This was a recent development, only since the war; sharing this sort of connection – _bond_ – with someone is strangely intimate. To be able to sense the flickering of their chakra, the rise, and fall of it, the tranquility of it. Naruto looks down at his palm where the sun symbol was once encircled.

 

“But I know he’s okay,” Naruto forfeits, “I don’t want to go after him. I trust him to come back.”

 

Suigetsu lets out a snort, hand in the chips bowl, “you’re here for emotional support then. Not a solution.”

 

Karin’s already closing the scroll, grumbling, “stupid.” She stands up and puts it on one of the bookshelves placed in the living room, “c’mon, let’s have dinner.”

 

Naturally, he ends up staying even after dinner and only finds himself walking home when it’s nearing midnight. He changes out of his clothes and settles for one of Sasuke’s unwashed t-shirts – the laundry had been piling since he left, and Naruto was too lazy to wash anything besides the couple of shirts he needed for work.

 

Sasuke’s scent clings to the fabric like a second layer, burgeoning another wave of emotions within him. He curls into the comforter that is haphazardly thrown on the bed and lets Haru settle next to him. The cat looks up at him with pondering eyes, nudging his face with her nose, and licks at his chin. Haru isn’t that affectionate mostly choosing to spend time on her own but ever since Sasuke left she’s been sleeping in bed with Naruto, night after night curled on top of his chest.

 

Pawing at her cheek Haru lets out a soft _meow_. And it makes Naruto chuckle, “I guess you miss him too, huh?”

 

Naruto scratches behind her ear, eyes getting misty, and mumbles to himself, “come home.”

 

Two turns into three, three into four, and before Naruto knows, summer has given way to fall. The trees turning the pretty auburn that they usually are this time of year. Konoha doesn’t get snow but the plants do lose their color and it gets harder to maintain his garden. The vegetables and flowers meant for winter begin to thrive under his care, but the spring colors do dull into blues and whites.

 

One evening, on his way back home from a mission he picks up some cat food at the convenience store, adding a couple of instant ramen cups to his basket and pays the cashier. Home cooked meals are less enticing when you don’t have anyone to share them with. Only when he’s standing outside his door, on the porch, that he notices it. Barely there, muted amongst the waves of chakra emitting from the village itself: stands one. Inside his house. The familiar chakra that his body has molded into, learned inside out, one that gets him shaking in excitement just from its mere existence.

 

Twisting the front door’s handle, he enters the house, not even bothering to take off his shoes. At first, his steps are light, unhurried, but the closer he gets to the living room the faster his feet move. The plastic bag in his hand knocking against walls as he treks down the hallway to the bright room.

 

Sasuke’s sitting on the floor with his legs crossed and Haru on his lap, he’s holding her up while a puppy is sniffing at his feet and just as Naruto crosses the threshold of the room the other boy glances up at him.

 

“Welcome home,” Sasuke smiles; the kind that reaches his eyes.

 

Naruto’s fist swings before he can think otherwise, knocking right into Sasuke’s jaw as the other boy doesn’t even attempt to dodge it. His chest tightens as he pounds another punch into his shoulder and when he goes for the third one Sasuke stops him, hand coming to hold his fist as he straddles his stomach, “Sorry.”  


“Not good enough,” the words come out harsh as Naruto tries to breathe. It’s like he’s been trapped underwater for months and he’s finally breaking the surface, letting his lungs expand to the oxygen. Is that what Sasuke is to him? A necessity, an itch he can’t stop scratching, someone so viscerally bound to him that letting go terrifies his core. 

 

Exhausted from the superfluous emotions coursing through him he falls forward, head burying in the other boys’ shoulder. They stay quiet, minutes passing until the dog approaches him. It’s small, slightly bigger than Pakkun, with an orange-white fur coat. The dog sniffs his hair—once the front, then the side—and then turns to his ear. He licks it.

 

“What the fuck?” Naruto pulls back, a hand reaching to wipe his saliva-covered ear shell, and glares, “Who’s this?”

 

The dog looks thoroughly pleased with himself as Sasuke speak, “Shiro.”

 

Naruto faces Sasuke now, still firmly sitting on his stomach, “This isn’t an animal shelter, Sasuke.”

 

Sasuke shrugs under him, reaching a hand out to play with Naruto’s wet ear, “He reminded me of you.”

 

Naruto groans before flopping back into the crook of Sasuke’s neck. His breath hot on Sasuke’s neck. Daringly he presses a single kiss on his shoulder, hoping Sasuke doesn’t question it—thinks of it as an accident—and demands, “We’re getting a frog next.”

**i.**

Sakura’s mixing the flour and eggs when Karin hands her a cup of chocolate chips. The wooden spoon has clumps of cookie dough sticking to it. She mixes until you can’t see the yellow yolk any longer and the ingredients have taken a doughy form.  
  
“Are we actually going to make cookies or just eat cookie dough by itself?” Naruto muses, he’s lying on the pile of blankets and cushions they’ve spread on the floor. Sleepovers have sort of become a tradition with them, laying blankets all over the floor and sleeping as a huddled bunch.

  
A little after the war ended, Sakura moved out of her parents’ house. It was right around the time she turned eighteen and decided she was old enough to live by herself. Her apartment is located at the city center in one of those new high-rise apartment complexes that were built after the Pein invasion. There is a bedroom, a dryer/washer room, a bathroom, and quaint kitchen. Right at the entrance, there is a small closet as well for storage that she mostly uses to stow away winter jackets and shoes.  
  
The tv room is the largest of all, but it’s sparsely furnished save for a hand-me-down couch, a television table, and a bookshelf. Her kitchen, albeit small, fits a tiny dinner table and medium sized fridge. There isn’t much you can afford on a shinobi salary, but she makes do especially now that she’s picked up more shifts at the hospital. In her own words, she’s comfortable with her living arrangement. Besides, there is no price on independence and she’s thoroughly enjoying hers.  
  
Karin snorts, walking out of the kitchen with a bowl brimming with popcorn, “yours and Sakura’s sweet tooth and impatience won’t allow for that.”  
  
“Hey!” Sakura hollers from the other room as Karin continues, “besides, it wastes time that can be spent on drinking booze and talking shit.”  
  
Naruto grins with fingers scooping into the bowl and takes a handful of the white, fluffy popcorn, “shouldn’t Ino be here for that too.”  
  
Sitting next to her blond haired cousin, Karin ties up her hair in a messy bun, and huffs, “she’s too busy with her boyfriends to join us.”  
  
The thought is odd even to his ears. Just a year ago he’d been scouring the ends of the earth to fight a mercenary group, crazy clan founders, and building diplomatic relations with official political heads from other nations. Now? he’s sat on his bum with two of his best friends, fingers sticky from the butter of the popcorn and only the promise of booze, shitty town gossip and campy movies to look forward to. It’s like for the first time in his life he’s not working in overdrive, not trying to compensate or working against time. He can be a regular teenager for just right now. The normalcy blossoms contentment within him he’s never experienced before.  
  
Wrinkling his nose, Naruto says, “I wonder how that’s like.”  
  
“Dating two guys? a pain in the ass I bet,” Sakura intones as she walks out with a case of beer and the cookie dough mix in another hand. She puts them down on the table mat she’d plucked earlier from the kitchen slab to avoid spills on the blankets.  
  
“Men are annoying,” Karin points taking one of the spoons placed in the cookie dough bowl and licking it clean.  
  
“As if you two weren’t after said men less than two years ago,” Naruto sticks out his tongue and Karin punches him in the shoulder. For someone who isn’t necessarily a combative ninja she sure as hell packs a punch. Suddenly he feels a lot sorrier for Suigetsu.  
  
Sakura tuts, clearly resorting to her correcting tone, the same one she uses with the kids at the academy when she guest lectures, “said _man_.”  
  
“You’re bisexual, Sakura,” Naruto takes a healthy spoon of the dough. God, it’s delicious.  
  
“Sadly, so,” she replies.  
  
Karin leans back and slides a beauty box from under the couch and opens it.  
  
“Alright, ladies, what color?” she herself picks out a lilac nail varnish and hair clip to pluck her bang from her forehead.  
  
Naruto peaks into the box and sees a very pretty sparkly blue. As if caught staring Karin accentuates, “ _your_ favorite color Naruto.” The teasing lilt in her voice discernable.  
  
“Fuck you,” he quips going for the deeper orange shade he knows Sakura bought just with him in mind.  
  
Sakura changes things up by picking yellow. “It’s summer,” she says to no one in particular.  
  
They paint each other’s nails, get butter fingers all over each other, dry them off and do mud masks. It’s when they’re drying their nails and have Icha Icha’s movie adaption playing on the tv when Karin speaks up, “Soooooo,”  
  
Naruto slightly lifts his head from Sakura’s thigh where she’d had been combing his hair, to look at his cousin, the bright mess of his hair being held back by a forest green bandana, “what?”  
  
“I’m meeting Sakura’s parents on Saturday,” Karin shrugs.  
  
Sakura’s hand stills in his hair and Naruto peeks at the furious red of her ears. Clearing her throat, she looks down at him, her eyes so, _so_ green.  
  
“Nervous, Sakura-chan?” his voice comes out softer than he intended, he’d initially wanted to tease her but knowing how precarious the situation is he opts out of it.  
  
She takes a deep breath, her hands now relaxed and going back to combing through his hair, “it’s just. They have no idea. They probably expect me to bring home a nice boy or something. They’ve only ever known me liking boys.”  
  
Naruto sees the way Karin shifts closer to Sakura. Their thighs touching and Naruto understands the weight of the simple gesture, he gives a reassuring smile, “they love you and they’ll love whoever you love.”  
  
Sakura eyebrows are knotted in distress, and Naruto reaches up to tug a strand of her hair behind her ears, “and if they don’t you always have me, Baa-chan, Kaka-sensei to have your back. We’ll make them see the way.”  
  
“Which is?” Karin says out loud.  
  
“That you two grossly in love and want ten million babies together,” Naruto snickers.  
  
It’s Karin’s turn to blush as she decks him in the neck this time. Fucking Uzumaki’s.  
  
“Shut up, brat,” she murmurs.  
  
Naruto’s so busy rubbing his neck he doesn’t notice Sakura shaking like a leaf under him, his head still firmly positioned in her lap, until a teardrop falls on his cheek.  
  
“Sakura...?” he calls out and she wipes her cheeks, a hearty laugh spilling out of her lips, “I love you.”  
  
She turns to Karin and smiles big thru her wet eyes, “I love both of you so much.”  
  
“No kinky lesbian sex for me though,” Naruto dramatically sighs, and this time Sakura punches him. His wails are drowned out by their collective laughter.  
  
From there on, the conversation lulls into silence until they’ve maneuvered around each other into comfortable positions. Naruto’s head still in Sakura’s lap when he says, “how did you know?”  
  
“Hrm?” Sakura’s trying to keep track of the plot but it’s futile at this point.  
  
Naruto clears his throat, sitting up and scratching the back of his head. He’s facing the tv and doesn’t want to look back just in case his friends see thru him.  
  
“How did you know you’re in love?” the question deafens the room to his own ears, the voices on the screen fading to the steady increase of his own heartbeat. He’s feeling uncomfortable in his own skin for the very first time in a long time. The last he remembers feeling this way was when he was a child and one of the village vendors ran him away with the threat of killing him if he wandered near his food stall again. He was only six, starved and the little family eating there seemed so happy.  
  
Shrugging away the unpleasant thoughts he waits. It’s Karin who speaks up.  
  
“You see them before you see anyone else.”

 

There is shifting behind him and he sees Karin get up and stroll over to the tv. Turning off the VCR and turning around. Hands on her hips she looks down at him, eyes sporting the same softness he knows she reserves for Sakura, for Sasuke, for her loved ones. Naruto once again feels the budding familial warmth in his chest at the sight.  
  
“Naruto,” she says with an even tone, now crouching in front of him, “you need to tell him.”  
  
Caught off guard he shuffles back sputtering, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
  
“Naruto—"  
  
“No seriously, this was a random totally unrelated question.”  
  
Karin sighs as Sakura squeezes his arm. Then the red-head sets a glare his way, “You dumbass. I will kill you. I’m about to become the sole Uzumaki I swear—“  
  
Sakura interrupts, “we know you have feelings for Sasuke.”  
  
“Who’d like that ugly bastard?” Naruto rolls his eyes, his traitorous heart constricting.  
  
Karin squawks, “the smell of denial reeks.”  
  
“What? you think he’s hot?” Naruto narrows his eyes at Karin.  
  
“Fuck yeah!” she replies throwing her hands up in the air. The whole situation is a tad ridiculous especially with how she’s dressed in a loose tank top, hair falling out of her bun and comfy shorts on. Naruto’s almost inclined to wonder if this is how it feels to have a sibling, to have silly arguments and unquestionable faith in the longevity of your bonds.  
  
His heart does a number thinking he has that, maybe not in a sibling, but most definitely a friend — an exceptionally special friend.  
  
Naruto pouts, pointing at Karin like a child, “Sakura, your girlfriend thinks Sasuke is hot.”  
  
Sakura yawns, shifting behind him and leaning into the edge of the couch, “anyone with functioning eyes would, Naruto.”  
  
Naruto pauses. Taking in a long-suffering sigh, he admits, “he’s pretty cute, isn’t he?”  
  
Karin blinks, eyes widening in disbelief, “cute?”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“God, you’re so whipped,” she laughs falling back on her bum. “Stop being a little bitch and tell him you dumbass.”  
  
“You kiss your girlfriend with that mouth?”  
  
Karin snickers, “I sure do. Wanna see?” Sakura shushes them both and asks them to put away the dishes so they can turn in. She has an early shift at the hospital tomorrow and she wants to sleep at a reasonable time.  
  
Disgruntled, Naruto and Karin get up to wash the dishes. After they’re done Naruto’s allowed to use the bathroom first to take off the mask, and brush his teeth, once he’s done, he makes his way back to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water while the girls clean up themselves.  
  
He’s setting the glass down in the sink when he hears the soft giggles. Smiling to himself he ducks into the living room, finds his jacket, and slinks his backpack on. It’s fine if he misses the sleeping part of the sleepover, he reckons.  
  
Ducking out of the apartment he finds himself fronting the brisk march breeze, the temperature during the day has been rising, but it’s still fairly cold at night. Well, as cold as Konoha gets. He zips up his jacket to avoid catching a cold and treks thru town towards the outskirts.  
  
It’s a thirty-minute walk from Sakura’s if he really tries otherwise a good hour if he’s not hurrying. Once he’s past the forest clearing, he sees his place, a sole cabin-esque house standing between all the foliage. On a closer look, Naruto realizes the lights are still on meaning Sasuke is awake.  
  
He enters the house with nimble steps, dropping the backpack and keys on the small table right next to the front door. The hallway opens to both the kitchen and living room that are evidently connected, a forked path.  
  
He enters the kitchen, surprised when he finds Sasuke standing by the stove, chopsticks in hand, “Oh, I thought you’d be in the bedroom.”  
  
Sasuke glances back at him, eyebrows knitted together in confusion, “home so early?” He has a slight frown, but Naruto can tell he’s pleased to have him back.  
  
He teases, anyway.  
  
“Thought you’d gotten rid of me, huh?”  
  
“I’ve learned that’s nearly impossible at this point,” he rolls his eyes. He turns his attention back to the pan on the stove and flips the egg. He’s making tamagoyaki from what Naruto can tell.  
  
“Don’t sound so wounded,” Naruto pouts, “hurts my feelings.”  
  
“Your feelings are always hurt, Naruto,” Sasuke says lightly, no sting to his words.  
  
“Dickhead,” he grumbles pushing past him towards the fridge, “What’s for dinner?”  
  
“Nothing for you. Tamagoyaki for me.”  
  
“Sasukeee,” Naruto whines, coming to stand next to him. He pokes the other boy’s bicep, “share, please.”  
  
Sasuke raises a brow at him and his eyes drift to Naruto’s nails, “they look nice.”  
  
“Thought you hated orange?” Naruto mumbles quietly.  
  
Sasuke lets out a low hum, “not on you.”  
  
Pleasure bubbles in Naruto’s chest at the compliment, he turns to face the cabinet with a smile on his face and pulls out plates, “yeah, whatever, who cares what you think.”  
  
“I’m literally feeding you,” Sasuke jest.  
  
“And yet you’re a bastard about it,” Naruto sets the plates down on the table. He’s taking out a pitcher of water when Haru crawls over to him, pawing at his feet, “did you feed the cat?”  
  
Sasuke huffs, plating the omelette and the rice and veggies he’d stir fried earlier, “yes.” He bends down and picks up Haru, “seems as if I’m in charge of feeding everyone in this house.”  
  
“That’s why Haru and I keep you around,” he comes closer to the raven-haired boy and pets the kitten, cooing, “right, baby?”  
  
Sasuke punches him in the gut.  
  
He hates his friends. He really _really_ does.  
  
Later when they’re in bed, turning in for the night, Sasuke asks, “what happened to your sleepover at Sakura’s?”  
  
He’s standing in front of the dresser, picking thru t-shirts to wear for the night when Naruto responds, “Karin got horny.”  
  
Sasuke laughs, it’s still strange hearing it, so unabashed, so easygoing — never loud or obnoxious, but lowered down to match the deep inflection of his voice.  
  
“So, they kicked you out?” he pulls the shirt over his head and Naruto gawks at the planes of his back. There are faint scars, embedded into his skin, that resemble a lightning strike. Thin strokes running down his back, twisting around his waist. Naruto’s fingers itch to trace them.  
  
Tongue heavy in his mouth, he chokes out a small, “no, I left.”  
  
Sasuke turns to him shirtless and arches an eyebrow at him, “you okay?”  
  
“Why won’t I be?” Naruto spits, fussing with the sheets. “I’m tired, good night.”  
  
“Alright, good night.”  
  
A few minutes later the futon dips alerting him that Sasuke’s joined him. His heart hammers in his chest as he faces the wall, eyes scrunched close as he counts frogs in his head. There is a movement by his foot and then he feels tiny paws crawling up his legs and sneaking in between the sheets. Haru finds her way to Sasuke’s pillow and nuzzles right next to him.  
  
Naruto exhales lightly when he notices all movement has seized. But then Sasuke shifts closer, an arm coming to wring around his waist and reaches for his hand. Naruto prays it’s not as sweaty as he thinks, but before he can pull away or think of batting Sasuke’s hand away, the other boy speaks, “did Karin tell you she’s meeting the parents?”  
  
Of course, Sasuke knows. He’s best friends with Karin. She probably told him, Suigetsu and Jūgo first. They’re practically her family at this point.  
  
“Yeah,” Naruto replies with a leveled tone.  
  
“Meeting parents must be nerve-wracking—,” he starts.  
  
Naruto snorts, failing to keep the bitterness at bay, “what would we know?”  
  
“I met your dad,” Sasuke replies and suddenly the context of the conversation has shifted. Naruto thinks, but we’re not dating. Are we?  
  
Sasuke continues when he’s met with silence, “besides, I have a feeling that they’d like you.”  
  
There is a pause, “— mom would adore you, probably. She liked loud people. You radiate her warmth, yknow. And dad, well, you know dads.”  
  
_I don’t_ , he wants to say.  
  
He says instead, “The Fourth liked you.” Saying the fourth is easier than saying _dad_ or _father_ because those words sound foreign. There is this quintessential importance to them that he doesn’t understand entirely. But Sasuke had at one point which was a standpoint of jealousy for him—now it’s nothing but heartbreak.

  
He takes a deep breath, unsure why this conversation is relevant to them anyway. Friends don’t meet parents in the same setting as they were discussing. “Dad,” he tastes the word, voice small as he continues, “knows how smart you are.”  
  
“Hrm,” Sasuke mutters, the palm of his hand is splayed on top of Naruto’s. Just resting.  
  
Sasuke eventually pulls back, settling on his side of the futon, back to Naruto now, “Whatever. all that matters is how I feel about you.”  
  
Talons of sleep pull at Naruto’s eyes as they flutter shut. His last thoughts being _and how do you feel about me?  
  
_

**iv.**

“You’re upset,” Sasuke notes. They’re out sparring near the river bank that’s a little way out of Konoha. The weather has been graciously pleasant today and Naruto had thought after his visit to the Hokage office he could come down here and get some training under his belt. The last mission he’d gone to was over two weeks ago and the smaller, menial ones don’t get him the workout he needs.

 

Aiming his fingers at Sasuke’s shoulders Naruto replies, “I’m fine.”

 

Sasuke blocks easily, not only that, but he grabs his wrists and twists his arm. They’ve been at it for at least forty-five minutes, maybe even an hour and Naruto’s back is drenched in sweat and his breath coming out labored. Anyone else would think he’s out of shape but—  
  
“You’re panting like a dog. What the fuck is wrong?” Sasuke pushes. He’s glaring now. Patience running thin.

 

“Nothing is wrong,” Naruto pulls back his wrist, making the other boy tip forward and swings his other hand at his jaw. “Mind your goddamn business.”

 

Sasuke is quicker to react, slinking past the blow and tackling him. It aggravates Naruto how easily he has him succumbed, how he’s tied at the hands and completely exhausted to the point where every muscle in his body is aching.  The unbridled tension in his shoulders rolls off in waves. alerting Sasuke of how his head isn’t in the fight—thoughts displaced elsewhere/

  
Frustratingly Sasuke catches him off-guard, kicking the back of his knees and making him fall to the ground. The damp dirt squashes against the fabric of his pants as the Uchiha forcefully pushes his shoulder down, his face meeting the trimmed grass, and asks again, voice even, “what the fuck is wrong, Naruto?”  
  
Both his hands are clasped around his back as he’s being pinned to the ground. Taking in a shuddering breath he lets the smell of soil and dewy grass invade him, eyes screwing shut he mutters, “fine, fuck. I’ll tell you.”  
  
A couple of years ago he wouldn’t ever succumb into this position, he’d have just flipped Sasuke over once he’d noticed the loosening hold on his wrists, but times have changed, and he’s been begged to face the music. To come out of his instinctual repressive nature even if it is the hardest thing he’s learned to work with. It’s a give and take between them. Sasuke’s inability to comprehend the warmth of understanding and Naruto’s inexperience in being granted the chance of one.  
  
Once they’ve dusted off the dirt from their clothes and settled under the shade of a large pine tree. Naruto speaks, rubbing at his eyes with the heel of his palms that sting due to the dirt.  
  
“I’ve been working on a contingency plan with the council and the Hokage—,” he pauses, carefully curating his words, “Tsunade, about the war orphans.”  
  
If Sasuke’s shocked his face doesn’t show, the usual stoic expression schooled onto his features, “from the fourth war.”  
  
“Yeah,” Naruto looks up and sees a hummingbird perched on a low branch, wings fluttering as it pecks at its own feather coat, and smiles—thinking of Jūgo—, “there hadn’t been as many casualties as the past shinobi wars, but some families still lost parental figures—“  
  
“Yeah, but you’re not responsible for that,” Sasuke is quick to placate the situation. “it’s a war, people die, regrettably, but that’s the reality of the situation and burdening the blame for it—"  
  
“That’s not what this is,” even to his own ears, Naruto sounds exasperated. But he’s been on the receiving end of this situation far too many times over the course of past two years, “this is about what to do after with those kids, to provide them with shelter, a place to turn to so they don’t—”

 

He stops short of finishing, eyes meeting dark ones. They reflect the innate understanding they’ve possessed since they very beginning. Something strictly belonging to the two of them. _So, they don’t become like us_ is heard loud and clear over the birds chirping, the rivers steady thrum, the sound of early autumn wind.  
  
“Alright,” Sasuke concedes, glad this isn’t another one of Naruto’s martyr heroism where he takes responsibility for actions, he’s not accountable for. In that single moment, it dawns on both of them that although twenty is just at the cusp of adulthood they both had to shed the cloak of innocence a long time ago.  
  
“What’s the problem then?”  
  
“The council believes creating an orphanage or even an adoption system is an inefficient use of resources considering we’re still in recovery mode from the war and the Pein invasion—” Naruto’s jaw sets, a fire lighting in his eyes, “because children are of course collateral damage.”  
  
When Sasuke doesn’t speak Naruto looks up hoping to find shared anger but instead is met with the same emptiness he’d encountered at the valley of the end years ago. The reality of the situation sinks in just then, “you’re not surprised.”  
  
He hums, “there isn’t much about this state that surprises me at this point.”  
  
Letting out a resigned sigh Naruto scrubs a hand over his face, “You haven’t seen these kids. The ones who weren’t provided accommodation are just listlessly roaming the streets. The smaller villages outside of Konoha are even worse off and there is absolutely no one to help.”  


It’s true Sasuke doesn’t know. Frequenting the village that had an explicit hand in destroying his life has been very low on his list of priorities. They live far enough from it that he rarely stumbles into the village grounds and so far, errands are concerned Naruto is more than happy to carry them out.

  
Sasuke stretches out his legs and leans back on the palm of his hands, “what did Tsunade suggest?”  
  
“I don’t know it almost feels like she’s more concerned about me personally than the kids. Like I understand she has very little vote in the matter if the entire council is against building an orphanage—"  
  
“Your wellbeing?”  
  
“She thinks I’m using this as a yardstick for my achievements like this ought to make sense of the sudden acceptance of my Jinchuriki status in the village.”

 

“But you’re just being cautious of…the future?” the question is a hesitant one. Naruto realizes that it is odd that this has been his what his mind has fixated on for the past two years, but he can’t shake the feeling that if he doesn’t take the initiative then no one will. There are only so many kids who survive the hardships to come out on top or one’s who barely scrape by to survive. There is an alternative that the council so helpfully suggested but the thought makes his stomach churn unpleasantly.

 

“Their way of resolving the situation is to put the kids in the academy, provide them temporary shelter until—”

 

“Until they become the tools of the state and bring back the investment,” Sasuke finishes coldly. He’s staring at him now, “they want to create a new breed of child soldiers by weaponizing their vulnerability.”

 

Naruto winces at the choice of words and fishes to come up with something even remotely kinder, but words fail him, so he settles for, “I’m trying to avoid that.”

 

Neither boys say anything after that letting the quiet wash over them. Only when the sun starts dipping down the horizon does Naruto get up, inhaling the scent of the beginnings of autumn, “Let’s go home.”

 

Sasuke stays still until his words break thru, “Naruto, you’re allowed to be mad. In fact, you _should_ be mad”

 

“Wasn’t talking supposed to help calm me down?” Naruto replies, irritated. He’s done with the conversation. “Like I said I’m not giving up I’ll change their mad.”

 

“Or you can be mad and demand reparations,” Sasuke suggests glancing up at the blond. The irascibility is absolutely palpable at this point, but Sasuke charges on, “they’re planning to groom little you’s Naruto.”

 

“What the fuck do you mean by that?” Naruto knows he’s losing his temper.

 

Sasuke’s eyes soften looking at Naruto’s scowl, “it means what happened with you was wrong. And you don’t have to forgive them, not today, not tomorrow—”

 

“This isn’t about _me_ ,” he insists.

 

“But it is. The fact they’re even debating this with you shows that your involvement in this decision matters. The village idolizes you. Going against something their hero so steadfastly believes in doesn’t look good for the council,” the way Sasuke speaks with reason and clarity leave Naruto unbridled. A flashback of suppressed memories will to rise but he squashes them, clenching his fists.

 

“Staying angry doesn’t help anyone,” Naruto emulating Iruka’s kindness.

 

Nodding Sasuke agrees, “yeah, but not allowing yourself to feel it doesn’t help either.”

 

A mutual armistice settles between them. Naruto’s shoulders now slumped he proffers a hand to Sasuke, helping him off the ground, “tell me what I should do? How I should feel?”

 

Brushing off the dirt clinging to his clothes Sasuke smiles. It’s small, barely there, the curve of his lips tilted upwards. “I can’t tell you how to feel, usuratonkachi,” he steps closer flicking Naruto’s forehead and the touch stupidly erupts butterflies in his stomach—he’s still upset, but less so now—, “I, however, can give you my unfailing support.”

 

They’re at the entrance of their small house, the door opening as Haru prowls towards Sasuke when Naruto voices, “it makes me angry. Angry enough to hate them and never go back.”

 

Sasuke crouches down and pets the kitten, scratching behind his ear, “but?”

 

“but—I’m not willing to give in either,” Naruto decides.

 

October brings along chilly drafts and the turning of leaves, the sun ducking early to give way to the starry sky. It’s one early October afternoon that he finds himself standing on an unoccupied piece of land in the Uchiha district. Sasuke’s next to him.

 

“So, you brought me out here in shit cold weather to admire…. dirt?” Naruto sneers.

 

Sasuke ignores him to stare at a very plain looking rock. They decided to meet up at the grounds before Naruto somehow coaxes Sasuke into agreeing to go to Ichiraku’s with him. Bringing ramen home is well and good, but nothing beats eating at the restaurant with a steaming hot bowl placed right in front of you. Getting impatient he lets out a rather nasally whine, “Sasukeee, I’m starving.”

 

“Here,” the other boy walks over with the rock he’d been admiring. It’s nothing special save for a circle with spirals carved into it. Naruto stares at the object and blinks twice. Then looks up at Sasuke, then down again at the rock.

 

“I know my birthday is coming up, but this is a shit gift even by your standards,” Naruto jokes sincerely hoping the damn thing isn’t _actually_ a gift. For Sasuke’s 20th he went all out.

 

“Do you ever shut up?” Sasuke finally weighs in. He turns and points somewhere far away, “You see that forest clearing?”  


“Yeah?”  


“The entire land that stretches up to there is yours starting today,” Sasuke states. It’s so fucking casual that Naruto thinks he’s misheard until he continues explaining, “I think this should be sufficient space for the orphanage. But _if_ it isn’t, we can look into other options such as extending the land cause technically that part of the forest is under Uchiha name too.”

 

“Sasuke,” Naruto blinks, perplexed, “I’m not trying to be funny here but what are you saying?”

 

The other boy turns to him now. They’re the same height so every time they face one another it’s staring directly at each other’s face. The pretense of hiding any sort of vulnerability is moot point this up close. He can perfectly trace the other boy’s features, the curve of his eyelashes, the swell of his bottom lip, the bridge of his nose.

 

The tenderness of his sharp eyes. Reserved for him.

 

“I’m saying you can stop fighting the council for the acquisition of the land near the city center. This is a perfectly usable space which you can occupy,” the words roll off his tongue matter-of-factly.

 

“You’re just giving me a part of your family’s land?” Naruto’s’ shell shocked. His entire body has gone stiff at this…gift? It sounds discourteous to call it as such as if he’s undermining the value. “Why?”

 

“You want this so…” Sasuke shrugs. Like this is just whatever. As if this is the same as giving in to Naruto’s whim to spar or to dine at his favorite ramen place for the fifth night in a row.

 

It’s been a long time since he’s felt this speechless. His eyes stinging, and his throat clogged as he searches words to say, to answer, to _thank_ , but nothing. The dampness of his eyes doesn’t go unnoticed by the other boy but before he can say something to comfort Naruto, the blond croaks, frustratingly, “You always do this. Do things for me I didn’t ask for.”

 

“I thought you said you wanted my help,” they’re standing toe to toe now, “if this bothers you—I just thought—”

 

Naruto laughs, the sound coming out choked and gravelly, “you’ve never asked anything in return.”

 

Sasuke speaks with certainty, “you’ve already given me too much.”

 

“Not like this,” Naruto mumbles to himself, “Not unprompted.” There was a time long, so long ago now it seems when Naruto was starved to be noticed, to be given any attention. To not be overlooked as someone insignificant. But it didn’t come until Iruka who accepted him, who apologized to him, and embraced him wholeheartedly that he understood you don’t always have to fight so hard to be given basic respect, to attain some form of love.

 

It was a little later with callous words that Sasuke came barreling into his life, and with an unrivaled ferocity cemented his position in Naruto’s life. If time is forever moving, then there are points fixed within it that hold lives together and theirs draws back to the Land of Waves. No one asks you to sacrifice yourself for their sake, _no one_ does it for much less a friend of few weeks. Sasuke did. He didn’t ask for it but. That’s it isn’t it? That’s where it started. Or maybe it was even before that, to a time of stolen glances, and quiet understanding when they were even younger.

 

Sasuke squeezes Naruto’s shoulder and offers a smile, the slight awkwardness of it makes Naruto snort, “consider it selfish. I just like having you in my debt.”

 

“Thought you hated the village,” it’s meant to be a passing joke but Sasuke replies with kind.

 

“They’re kids. You can’t exactly hate the helpless, can you?”

 

Naruto wipes at his eyes from the back of his hand and feels the roughness of the rock Sasuke held out to him in his palm – it’s the size of a fucking tennis ball with a circle sloppily carved into it. “Why a damn rock?”

 

Sasuke rolls his eyes, a faint pink coloring his cheeks, “Suigetsu thought it’d be a symbolic gesture. I don’t know something about our clan symbols…”

 

“That’s a stupid idea,” Naruto scrunches his nose, sniffing, “He’s always spouting nonsense.”

 

“Yeah,” Sasuke tilts his head a little. “So.”

 

“So,” Naruto chuckles.

 

“There is still a long way to go, we need other resources, but as a starting ground…”

 

Naruto grins ear to ear, “Where there’s a will there’s a way, right?”

 

**vi.**

Love is a funny little word. Naruto’s been told it exactly twice in his life. Once in the image of his mother’s brilliant smile and the other in Hinata’s valiant bravery. He’s not exactly accustomed to it as other kids might be, at how they shrug off their parents cooing attempts at affection with an embarrassed huff because he’s never had that. Well, not until Iruka. But that too was belated affection rolling in at the tender of twelve and even then, the words had never been clearly uttered and that was alright because he’s a firm believer in actions are stronger than words. They’re present in Iruka’s fretting, in the concern of his well-being, the way he brings him to ramen every month without fail, him buying small knickknacks for Naruto that remind him of the boy. Every gesture, every act bursts with affection and unadulterated love.

 

As is the thought of having those words said aren’t necessary or absolute to him so it does come as a surprise when they are.

 

Naruto never expects Sasuke to say it first, or at all. But it happens one evening when he’s heading out, a list in hand of the supplies he needs for his next mission. He’s slipping into his shoes, straightening his hitai-ate that’s been more of a headband recently since he’s severely due a haircut—he’s been using it to push back his hair as Sakura does.  

 

“Okay, I’m heading out,” he bellows towards the corridor, patting down his pants to check if he remembered to grab his wallet. “Did you need anything?”

 

“No, I’m good!” Sasuke yells back, “Suigetsu and I went to Nekobaa-sama earlier, so we should be good.”

 

Naruto pouts, mumbling to himself _you never take me there_. Letting out a dramatic huff he turns to the front door, hand gripping the knob, “Okay, see ya!”

 

He’s turning the handle when Sasuke yells back, “ _love_ you!”

 

The words nearly making him jump out of his skin, every nerve in his body reacting to them. Hand stilted on the knob he blinks, drawing it back and turning around. Robotically he pads down the hallway. The living room is illuminated by the afternoon sunlight coming in abundance through the window, the curtains pulled back, and Sasuke’s sitting with a scroll spread in front of him, Haru in his lap and Shiro by his feet fast asleep. His hair is tied in a messy bun, eyebrows furrowed as his eyes skim through the detailed text.

 

Naruto stands at the threshold, mouth agape when Sasuke looks up—eyebrows still knotted, “Hey you.”

 

“Hey,” Naruto chokes back. His voice sounds strained to his own ears.

 

“Did you forget something?” Sasuke asks diverting his attention back to the parchment laid in front of him.

 

“You said…” Naruto trails off. This is absolutely ridiculous. He’s a grown man and yet the entire thing has him prickly in his own skin. Stuff like this shouldn’t be hard especially seeing as there is just the two of them in the room, but the mere thought of explaining how he currently feels has him shaking like a leaf.

 

Sasuke must’ve noticed something was off in his tone because he glances up again. Eyebrows relaxing as a mellower expression takes over his face. The steadiness of his gaze encourages Naruto to continue despite his tongue feeling like sandpaper, “right now, when I said bye, you…”

 

Sasuke gently cups Haru, careful not to stir Shiro, and lays her down on the couch after which he stalks over to Naruto. Bringing his hand to Naruto’s wrist he drags him to their room, leaving the door ajar behind them.

 

The room is like it always is. Naruto’s clothes messily strewn on the floor that’s on the left side of the bed—the one closer to the window because the other boy is not too fond of the morning sunlight—and Sasuke’s side table is stacked with books that sit under a sharpened kunai. There’s a ramen cup on the desk they barely use, an orange towel hanging on the door of their closet and a map of the five great nations tacked on the wall—it has marks etched in ink on it, circles, words, arrows from all the times Suigetsu or Karin are over to plan their next trip as a team. Jugo doesn’t have suggestions as he’s happy to follow Sasuke’s lead. There is also one of Sakura’s spare hospital badges lying on the dresser.

 

Naruto hadn’t even noticed how their lives had started entwining so deeply. A year or so ago this was just a house, similar to the apartment he’d lived in all his life, but now—with every carefully curated item and random piece of clutter—it’s _home_. No place has allowed him to call it that until this very moment.

 

With deep black eyes that reflect warmth and familiarity, Sasuke says with the same sense of self-assurance and bravado he’s possessed since he was young, “I’m in love with you.”

 

There was a time Naruto stood in line, desperate, for love. Today, he’s inclined to believe Sasuke.

**v.**

He meets Iruka outside the gardening center. There is a huge awning that extends over him as he makes sure he brought along enough money—his froggy wallet is too small to hold the bills and coins he’s been saving. Since he and Sasuke moved into their own place it’s been easier to manage with how frugal Naruto already was, but now having an extra person to share the expenses with. Growing up pretty much by himself he learned which stores to shop at to get the cheapest toiletries and what vendors sell the inexpensive fruit.

 

Little things like that add on over time and before he knew it, he became an expert shopper—bargaining prices when need be. Spring is just around the corner which means it’s the perfect time to plant the seeds. Over mission debrief last week he’d talked Iruka into going to the gardening center with him. The older man has the perfect balcony spot to plant flowers, he’s been looking to liven up his place anyway.

 

Besides, it’s been a while since they hung out and did something together. Before they’d always make time to at least have dinner or sparring session once a week, but it seems as Naruto grows older Iruka’s turning hesitant at the prospect of a spar. Naruto always teases him it’s his age catching up to him.

 

For late February the weather is noticeably warm, sun high up with a clear sky. Konoha’s weather is bipolar at most nowadays, vacillating between tepid heat and a brisk chill. From the corner of his eye he catches the familiar brown hair and turns, squinting to see his teacher ambling over to where he’s standing.

 

“You’re here bright and early,” Iruka says in greeting, a smile touching his lips, “You’re usually in bed right now.”

 

Naruto splutters into a pout, “Hey, I told you I’d be here! I am now, am I not?”

 

“Hrm,” Iruka comes to stand by him giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze, “Very suspicious. I’m onto you.”  


“You’re just bummed that you’re _late_ for once,” Naruto sticks out his tongue, following Iruka into the building. The glass doors slide open as their noses are assaulted with the smell of soil, an assortment of flowers. “Besides, this is for you, sensei. You need life in that gray apartment of yours.”

 

“Shouldn’t I get a pet instead then?” Iruka muses.

 

Naruto lights up at the suggestion, “Oh, yes, oh my god. Get a dog! Then Shiro can have playdates with someone.” He pauses picking up a pint-sized flower pot, examining it before putting it in the little red basket he’d gotten before walking in, “Haru is so mean to him, she’s always attacking him.”

 

Iruka blinks, putting a hand on Naruto’s arm and stopping him, “You have a dog?”

 

“And a cat,” Naruto nods. “Two pets.” He’s holding up two fingers for emphasis.

 

“Since when…...?” Iruka trails off worry etched on his face, “And you look after them?”  


Naruto smiles, “Well, Sasuke and I. He picked them up on his way home…. I think Shiro was near Kiri and Haru in Amegakure.”

 

The continue walking thru the aisle, looking at different gardening tools, Iruka mumbles to himself, “It was yesterday when you were drinking expired milk but now, you’re…”

 

Crouching in front of a bunch of sunflowers, Naruto says, “How about these? You can put them in a vase.”

 

They peruse the store until they’ve both found a couple of seeds to plant, Naruto splurging on a bag of fertilizer and buying a new shovel and spade; his old ones have gotten rusty and dull at the edges with use. Once they’ve paid for their respective purchases, Iruka speaks up, “So.”

 

“So?” Naruto whistles, giving a slight bow to the owner before they exit.

 

“Why do I get the feeling you had more than gardening tools to get for which you invited me out?”

 

The streets have started filling up now that it’s nearing ten am, children running amok with parents on their trails. Saturday mornings in Konoha are always this lively, Naruto had almost forgotten now that he doesn’t live right in the center of the village, but he appreciates the privacy and quiet of his home too; after all, you can’t put a price on that sort of comfort.

 

Holding the plastic bag full of things in one hand, he scratches the back of his neck with the other, prickly heat rising up his throat, “Before you heard any rumors. I just.”

 

Iruka notices his pronounced discomfort, and suggests, “Would you like we take this elsewhere?”

 

Blinking in surprise, Naruto nods.

 

They find themselves walking towards Academy grounds which is evidently the fortuitous epicenter of their lives. Every cardinal relationship of Naruto’s could easily be traced back to this single place, the dirt holding imprint of his sweat and tears, the classroom built on memories of his seclusion and later on, acceptance. It’s funny how buildings made of brick and concrete can hold so much weight in one’s life.

 

He’s staring at the swing set of his isolation when Iruka touches his shoulder—again a gentle touch.

 

Naruto doesn’t turn, taking in a deep breath before piecing together words, “I am seeing someone.” He now turns to fully face his old teacher. It’s then when he notices the faint lines around Iruka’s eyes, the grey strand of hair peeking from below his _Hitai-ate_ —he’s growing old, his invincible, savior-like teacher is aging.

 

Iruka’s eyes crinkle in genuine adoration. His face has always been so open, so emotive, so _full_ of love and Naruto’s been lucky to be on the receiving end of it, “Will I get to meet her soon?”

 

He stops. Ruffling Naruto’s hair and laughing, “God, when did you grow up? Saying things like I’m _seeing_ someone. You’re barely out of the cradle.”

 

Naruto reflects the smile, speaking softly, “Not a her, sensei.” Iruka looks taken aback for a split second but then the previously placed sincerity is back onto his face as he says, “Very well, when will I meet him then?”

 

The words are ready to roll off Naruto’s tongue when another voice interrupts them, Iruka glancing over his shoulder following Naruto’s line of vision.

 

“Figures you’d be here,” Sasuke’s standing a little towards the entrance, hand clasped around a plastic bag—he must’ve run errands as well, Naruto thinks. Belatedly he realizes Iruka’s presences and corrects himself, straightening his slouching posture, and says politely, “Good morning, Iruka-sensei.”

 

Naruto grins at the good-mannered tone.

 

“Missed me?” Naruto tilts his head a bit, beaming at the sight of the other boy.

 

Rolling his eyes, completely endeared, Sasuke replies with a smile, “You asked me to meet you in the village, remember?”

 

Before Naruto can reply Iruka’s clearing his throat, looking between the two boys—men, he amends. Ashamed at his brazen behavior Naruto flushes, noticing the realization in Iruka’s eyes and words as he speaks, “Morning, Sasuke. It’s been a while.”

 

“It has,” Sasuke visibly winces—readying himself for an onslaught of reprimand, disappointment? Something.

 

But Iruka flashes him the same warm smile, “You’ve grown quite handsome.” He gives Naruto a quick glance, a mix of mischief and approval lighting his eyes, “I see why certain people are quite taken to you.”

 

“Sensei!” Naruto yowls, deep red as he splutters to make excuses.

 

They bid Iruka goodbye around noon when he’s called to the Hokage tower concerning some papers or files. The village streets are now teeming with people as they navigate their way towards home, but when Naruto goes to take a left that leads to the compound and the forest clearing Sasuke walks to the right of the intersection. Confused Naruto follows suit. Some people stop him and say hello, children starry-eyed as they wave at him over their parents’ shoulders, and even some girls bat their eyelashes at him. This is something new he had to get accustomed to, the attention that’s teetering between admiration and hero worship.

 

He shakes his head making sure he doesn’t lose sight of Sasuke and only stops when he sees Sasuke does. They’re standing outside Ichiraku Ramen.

 

“I figured it’s lunch time,” Sasuke says ever-so casually.

 

Naruto smiles wide, grabbing Sasuke’s wrist and pulling him into the stall, yelling at the owner, “Oye! Old man, Teuchi, two miso ramen special with extra toppings, _please!_ ”

 

There are other people there sitting along the countertop with their steaming bowl of broth and noodles. But Naruto doesn’t bother checking if he knows someone or not, his attention on Sasuke, as conversation flows naturally between them. They eat and talk about everything and nothing and make plans for the next time Sasuke will be leaving and discuss Naruto’s next mission.

 

It’s when Naruto’s waiting for his fourth bowl of ramen and the restaurant has attracted a crowd due to the lunch special—people filling every corner as Ayame haphazardly takes their orders—when Sasuke leans in. Naruto’s goes a little cross-eyed looking at him, he squeaks out a _What?_

 

Two things happen then: Teuchi places the fourth bowl of ramen in front of him—the aroma of meat, spices and vegetables invading his senses—and Sasuke kisses him. A soft peck of lips on his own, a slide of a tongue licking at the seam of his mouth, coaxing Naruto’s lips to open and Sasuke’ kissing him. Just like that he pulls back.

 

Naruto hadn’t even realized he’d closed his eyes, he brings a hand to his lips that are warm from Sasuke’s touch as the other boy goes back to his food, quietly mumbling, “Tastes like miso. Still.”

 

Sasuke pays for everything, Naruto dazed and a little too love drunk to care. They walk back towards the village streets when Naruto reaches to grab Sasuke’s hand, lacing their fingers together, “Was this a date?”

 

“Are your standards that low?” Sasuke snorts.

 

Naruto hums, shuffling closer to Sasuke, “Thank you.” Sasuke mouth does that twitch thing where he’s biting back a smile, Naruto says softly, “Best first date.” He kisses his cheek right before they turn towards the compound, the wind billowing in their direction leading them home.

 

**viii.**

Naruto’s twenty-four when he decides he no longer wants to be Hokage. it’s not even a long deliberation, but it comes to him one morning. It’s early January and the heat is cranked up all the way, but the floors would still feel cold under his feet. He wakes up to smell of food — meat sizzling on a frying pan — and turns over in bed to find himself a face full of hair. Sasuke’s hair. There is also the smell of burnt eggs. Karin is over.  
  
He shifts closer to the body next to him, breathing in Sasuke’s heady scent and presses a kiss at the nape of his neck where the hair parts into an upside-down V. It’s cute how the ends of Sasuke’s hair curl just the slightest. Not willing to wake up just yet he stretches out his arm to reach Sasuke’s hand, intertwining their fingers and continues peppering kisses along the expanse of skin lain bare to him. Blearily he peers at the unmoving body and can’t help but smile, teeth sliding against the soft skin as he bites at Sasuke’s shoulder—this elicits a gravelly moan out of the other boy, “not now.”

 

“Karin’s over,” Naruto mumbles, pressing another kiss under Sasuke’s ear. “We might have to get up.”

 

“Tell her to fuck off,” Sasuke grunts, turning around into Naruto’s arms, “’m tired.” It’s only been two days since he’d returned from his travels—was it Kirigakure this time or Suna? He can’t even recall.

 

He slides his palm down the other’s back, settling on the small of his back right over the hem of his boxers. Naruto ducks his head a bit and Sasuke reaches up, their mouths coming to meet in a soft press, a peck. The dryness is familiar, chaste as they keep pressing their mouths into a lazy kiss until Sasuke figures he wants more—it’s always this sense of urgency with him as if he wants to swallow Naruto whole. Naruto thinks it’s fucked of him to want it so much, to be devoured entirely—he loves every second it.

 

The lazy kisses turn into a heated exchange—he can’t tell where he ends and Sasuke begins, his tongue licking into Sasuke’s mouth, the heat of his fingers that are buried in Naruto’s hair enveloping his skin—and Naruto’s left a crumbling mess.

 

Sasuke moves his knee in between the gap of his thighs and Naruto pulls back, head pressing into the pillow as he holds back a moan—it’s futile cause the other boy is already biting at his chin, his neck, his collarbones.

 

“She’ll hear us,” he pants out the words, they’ve barely touched each other but every time it’s the same rush, the same explosion under his skin. There is something scary about the intensity with which they do things, with which they embrace, the complete need—absolute desire—to take over the other, to absorb the other whole, to peel the other to rawness that there’s nothing left but this. This which he names at the tip of his tongue as likeness, attraction, sex.

 

It’s more. They’re more. They’re infinite and the world, the universe, seems to be expanding just to fit them. Or maybe, they’re collapsing onto themselves, sinking.

 

“Sasuke,” he slurs out the name as if he’s drunk on it, maybe he is, because the way the other boy makes him feel gives him the kind of rush men chase after all their life. The kind that bolsters them to boast about power and control, the ability to _rule_. Naruto smiles into the kiss, _oh we can rule the world if we desired_.  But that isn’t even necessary because he gets the same rush right this second. He feels it now, feels it when Sasuke looks at him whether it be during a spar, in bed or during a quarrel. It’s there, incandescently vivid and all-consuming.

 

“Then we’ll have to be quieter,” Sasuke answers bringing his lips back to Naruto, tongue tracing the seam of his mouth achingly slow—prolonging this dance between them. Sasuke’s mouth is hot, his breath is stale, and Naruto is helpless in the face of it all.

 

There was a time, once upon a time, years ago—so long that he fails to recall accurately—when he’d thought the bubbling anticipation, the burning of his chest was just him, it was all him and his need to have, to want, to demand, but then Sasuke like always, unprompted, had returned it all with the same tenacity.

 

The ocean cries for the shore, the sky falls in rain to kiss the ground, and the sun, _oh_ the sun marvels at the moon. Just as he wants, needs, can’t fathom to be—to exist—without Sasuke.

 

In a few years’ time, when they’re no longer present, when their stories have been told, Naruto wonders if the heat with which he’s burning under this touch will remain—if what he feels will _stay_.

 

The words never come out because Sasuke’s taken to pressing them into his skin. Their bodies gravitate to each other and Naruto forgets entirely why he’s cautious.

 

_Love. Love. Love._

 

Is what Sasuke breathes and with every inhale Naruto feels.

 

Later when they make it out to the living room, limbs aching, they find a small note tacked on the fridge.

 

 _‘fuck u guys._ ’

 

Naruto laughs into Sasuke’s shoulder _._ Sasuke grumbles, “It’s her own fault, she’s just excited we’re leaving Konoha. She’s been itching to get out.”

 

Naruto hums taking a gulp of milk straight out of the carton, “Suigetsu told me you’re gonna look for the Nuibari.”

 

Sasuke’s eyes gleam at the mention, “Yeah, it’s supposed to resemble a needle. Maybe I can convince Suigetsu to let me have that one.” A few years ago, Sasuke wouldn’t have asked.

 

Placing the carton on the countertop, Naruto treads over and encircles his arms around Sasuke’s waist, placing his chin on his shoulder, “Can I come with?”

 

Surprised, Sasuke turns to face him, “But you’re meant to start Hokage training…?”

 

Naruto shrugs, biting the inside of his mouth, “Maybe, that’s not something I want right now.”

 

Sasuke kisses him, and Naruto thinks _this is it_.

 

Being Hokage is a dream. Dreams change as do people and now he’s given another blank slate he’s meant to fill, the future is tomorrow, it waits, but until then. _This is it_.

**Author's Note:**

> feedback is very much appreciated. kudos and comments and all that fancy stuff!


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